Sean Astin gained weight to play a self-described “stupid fat hobbit” in ‘The Lord of the Rings.’ After the movies, he said, “I lost 30 pounds.” He starred in season 2 of the Showtime series ‘Jeremiah’ and described it as “a lot of fun.” However, he later revealed that he gained another 30 pounds for the ’50 First Dates’ role.
“I had to gain like a million pounds to be in The Lord of the Rings because I played a ‘stupid fat hobbit,’” he said, noting that’s what Gollum calls his character, Samwise Gamgee, in the three-film series. He appeared in 2001’s ‘The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring,’ 2002’s ‘The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers,’ and 2003’s ‘The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King.’
He was asked if he could gain 30 pounds for the movie ’50 First Dates.’ He explained the process: “And then Adam said, ‘We’d love you to do this. Can you put on 30 pounds?’” he said of ’50 First Dates.’ “I was like, oh my God, of course, of course, I’ll put on 30 pounds.”
Astin also revealed that he initially did not want to take part in ’50 First Dates.’ “My whole career is about me not wanting to do stuff and people telling me, ‘You gotta do this,’ and then I do it, and I’m like, oh, that’s good.”
Astin said his wife convinced him to audition: “‘Do that audition.’ She doesn’t generally say stuff like that to me, you know, and when your wife says something to you, you gotta like, listen to it,” he said. “And I was like, ‘I’m tired. I don’t wanna, I read the script. It’s like a great script, but I don’t know what I’m doing in it.’ And she goes, ‘Do the audition.’”
Sean Astin is an award-winning actor who has appeared in such acclaimed productions as ‘The Lord of the Rings, 50 First Dates,’ ‘The Goonies,’ and ‘Stranger Things.’
